MARTINE SITBON FILES FOR CHAPTER 11

MARTINE SITBON has filed for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The French designer, who set up her rock-meets-romance label in 1986, now has until November 20 to reorganise the business and find a new backer. Marc Ascoli, Sitbon's husband, assured Women's Wear Daily that they were "confident [of finding] a solution", hinting that discussions were already underway with potential investors. The Korean firm Shamzie, which is Sitbon's largest shareholder, suffered severe losses in the economic slow last year and Ascoli said that was the reason for the current situation. However, he stressed that life would go on as normal in the Sitbon office: the autumn/winter 2004-5 collection is being shipped to 70 wholesale clients, the Rue de Grenelle boutique will remain open and Sitbon herself is busy designing a spring/summer 2005 collection to present to buyers in September. He said that they had not confirmed yet whether there would be a catwalk show during Paris Fashion Week but said that it was looking unlikely. Martine Sitbon generates a wholesale volume of approximately £2 million. (August 12 2004, AM)